I find the thought of creating one's own calibration lab very interesting. One could achieve high accuracy for low cost in a DIY setup. This could very well become a commercial venture.

Let's start with a voltage standard as described in the above discussion. We know that temperature dependency is a primary demon. Hence, build a constant temperature oven. The absolute temperature accuracy is not so important as the temperature stability. With typical PID controllers this is easily attainable.

Quartz crystal oscillators are very stable, with 1ppm (±0.0001%) readily achievable, especially when housed in a constant temperature oven.

Now we have our own accurate DIY standards for:

• voltage
• time
• frequency

Next step would be to add:

• temperature
• resistance
• capacitance
• inductance
• current

And finally, NIST traceable should be a goal.

I think it's time for me to get cracking on this.

 

Reminded me to bookmark Standford Research Systems:

http://www.thinksrs.com/

 

Hi,

You might want to try Maxim. 0.02 percent is pretty good for around 5 dollars (USD).

I missed that when I visited their site. Thank you.